Dr. McMichael has a Ph.D. in technical communication and rhetoric. She is currently teaching professional and technical writing at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Her first book, Talking Fat, examines the rhetorical success of the "war on obesity" while considering its absolute failure to make people thinner or to make a difference in the health of the American people. She examines empirical studies and statistics as well as the actual experience of fat people, asserting that the past decade's messages about the "obesity epidemic" are about many things--including prejudice, profit & control--but are not about health. Instead, negative messages about fat have increased prejudice and decreased health in the very people targeted for "help," while increasing profits for those perpetuating such rhetoric.

Dr. McMichael argues that the current weight-centered paradigm is only hurting our society and the individuals within it, and calls for a change in policy and perspective on fat in American society.